TRANSFORM YOUR EMUNAH!

The Torah records a verse which states that the humblest person in all time was Moshe Rabbeinu. We know that the Torah was written by Moshe Rabbeinu at Hashem's command. So, in a sense what is happening here is Moshe Rabbeinu is writing about himself, “I am the humblest man of all time.” Some Torah commentaries explain that true humility means that a person is able to write about themselves, “I am...

Imagine for a second that we were given the following offer. If we give $100 to charity today, we will prevent a certain country from dropping an atomic bomb. Even if it's difficult to get those $100 together, most of us would make a plan, because stopping an atomic bomb from falling is a very worthwhile investment to make. In a different scenario, if we were offered the following: If you are to s...

We've been discussing that one of the highest expressions of Emunah is the performance of Hashem's mitzvos and specifically to perform them just because He commanded me to and not because I understand or agree with His understanding. It is so vital to perform the mitzvos based on our belief in Hashem rather than based on our agreeing with His logic because when we perform the mitzvos based exclusi...

Our goal in this world is to train ourselves to truly and sincerely believe and trust in Hashem's prescription. Hashem commanded us to perform many mitzvos. Some of them are easier to understand with our limited understanding, whereas other mitzvos are more difficult to understand. For example, Hashem commanded us to visit a sick person. That is very logical, even in our minds, that's a nice thing...

Our job in this world is to grow in our belief in Emunah and everything that that entails. As we've discussed, one of the potent areas Hashem has given us the privilege to be able to tap into is the words of Tehillim, the holy words of David HaMelech. And again, our job is to believe that our recitation of the words of Tehillim are making an impact. Even though we may not be able to experience and...

In Hashem's great kindness, He has given us many opportunities of how to impact our lives in this world, as well as impact our future lives in the next world. One of the potent gifts Hashem has given us is the power of tehillim. Tehillim are comprised of 150 chapters that David HaMelech authored. If one studies tehillim, one will quickly realize that these are King David's personal conversations w...

Torah commentaries teach that the distance between knowing Emunah in our heads as opposed to truly and sincerely internalizing that Emunah in our hearts is greater than the distance between heaven and earth. Most believing Jews understand that prayer to Hashem makes an impact and is certainly a worthwhile investment on our part. However, internalizing the true extent of just how powerful each word...

The famous words in the Torah, “ein od milvado” - there is nothing else in the world except for Hashem, mean that everything in the world is completely under Hashem's control and guidance. That being the case, it's sometimes difficult to understand why we need to do anything. Because if Hashem runs the show 100% and my efforts do not make any difference, as taught by the Torah commentaries, why do...

The Torah teaches us in a verse about Moshe Rabbeinu, “Vayehi yadav emunah”, and his hands were emunah. And the famous commentary on the Torah, the Targum Unklus, translates the words as, “and his hands were spread out in prayer.” What the Torah calls emunah, the translation that follows is prayer. One of the most potent expressions of our belief in Hashem is praying and talking to Him. If I since...

We know that the Torah sources refer to Hashem and the Torah as one. One of the most potent things that we can do in our endeavor to connect to Hashem is to learn Torah. The Gemara, as outlined by the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law, also teaches us that even if one does not have this high motive of just connecting to Hashem and learning the Torah just because He commanded us to, even if on...

We've learned many times the incredible, potent value of Torah learning. There is no question that the more involved we are in Torah learning, the more we come closer to HaShem, because we are taught in Torah literature that HaShem and the Torah are in essence one and the same. In a sense, the closest that we can get to HaShem is when we take the Torah and delve into it and learn it to the best of...

The information that is found in the Torah is so much that sometimes it can be overwhelming. How am I supposed to learn all of the information in the Torah? Even if somebody is completely dedicated to Torah, it is almost an impossibility to get to know all of the different diverse areas of the Torah. Certainly, for most of us who are limited, it can be overwhelming. Again, here we have Hashem's pe...

Human nature is to appreciate things that we understand to have value and be important, much more than things we are just told to believe are important, but are sometimes difficult to relate to and difficult to see their true value and importance. After one performs the tremendous mitzvah of visiting a sick person, and the sick person thereafter tells you, “you just made my day, I didn't feel like...

The Code of Jewish Law outlines that all people, men, women and children, are obligated in the pursuit of Torah learning. Women have a mitzvah to learn and master all the areas of Torah that are related to the practical fulfilment of the mitzvos, as well as areas that focus on the development and improvement of our character traits, as well as the areas of Torah that talk about how to bring us clo...

We are so privileged to have received the Torah from Hashem, the only perspective that can be absolute truth. We know from many Torah sources that the Torah itself is considered the sweetest item in the world. But what am I supposed to do if I just don't feel the sweetness of Torah? I might believe the fact that if the Torah and Hashem's perspective tells me that the Torah is greater than anything...

One of the traditions of the festival of Shavuos is that we eat honey. The Torah commentaries explain that the reason for this custom is because the verse compares the sweetness of Torah to honey, which is so sweet. The Torah, the mitzvos, and everything that is encompassed within the Torah is the sweetest thing in the world. I once heard a beautiful idea based on a famous verse which states that...

As we approach this holy day of Shavuos, it is worth delving into what we are celebrating. We celebrate Shavuos to commemorate Hashem giving us the Torah. Now one may say, What is so great about the Torah? Is it not possible to have a close relationship with Hashem even without the Torah? I acknowledge that Hashem exists; I acknowledge that He runs the world; I acknowledge that He is personally in...

As we approach this holy day of Shavuos, it is worth delving into what exactly we are celebrating. We know that the main celebration of the festival of Shavuos is because that is the time that Hashem gave us the Torah. Now one may say, what is so great about the Torah? Is it not possible to have a close relationship with Hashem even without Torah? I acknowledge Hashem exists. I acknowledge that He...

We've been discussing one of the six constant mitzvos is to love Hashem. And as the Rambam teaches, the way of coming to love Hashem is by taking note of His amazing creations with admiration and that will bring us more and more to be able to love Hashem. There is a Mishnah in Pirkei Avos which teaches that if somebody is on the road and whilst traveling they are thinking Torah thoughts or discuss...

We've been discussing how every moment of our lives is really an opportunity and throughout the many extra moments that we might find for ourselves, instead of wasting the time idly just because maybe we can't center ourselves to a full-out task, because we're currently busy with something else and we only have a few spare moments at hand, it would nevertheless be so wise and recommended to use th...

Every single moment of life is an opportunity. There is always a mitzvah to perform in every situation, and sometimes just being mindful of something can change a situation from being a waste of time, or even perhaps a sin, to a great mitzvah.  The halachic authorities teach that there are six constant mitzvahs that can be performed at any and every single moment. Just by thinking of them, we fulf...

We've been discussing one of the most important and fundamental mitzvahs, the mitzvah to love Hashem. That although it is such a fundamental and basic prerequisite to the Torah, nevertheless, at face value, it is quite a difficult mitzvah to fulfill, seeing as Hashem is an abstract being that is difficult for us to connect with due to our human limitations. We've discussed that when one views life...

We've been discussing one of the six constant mitzvahs, the mitzvah to love Hashem, which on the one hand is such an important fundamental mitzvah, whilst at the same time can be so difficult, because Hashem is not something tangible, not something we can see nor hear, and therefore how does one bring oneself to this place of being able to truly love Hashem?  We mentioned the Rambam who says that...

One of the six constant mitzvahs is the mitzvah to love HaShem. It is difficult sometimes to fulfill this mitzvah of loving HaShem because I don't see HaShem, I don't hear HaShem and in many ways it's hard for me to relate to HaShem - this abstract figure. How do I come to loving HaShem?  The Rambam writes that the way we come to loving HaShem is by taking note of the things that He has created an...

This holy day, Lag B'Omer, is another one of the incredible gifts Hashem has shared with us. We know that the festival of Shavuos is the time we celebrate the giving of the Torah. The commentaries explain that Shavuos refers to the time the revealed parts of the Torah were given to us. However, the revelation of the hidden secrets to the Torah took place on Lag B'Omer. One of the greatest classics...